South Carolina Legislative Update - February 7, 2014

This Wednesday the General Assembly met in joint session to elect the Chief Justice of the South Carolina Supreme Court, Chief Judge of the Administrative Law Court, several circuit court and family court judges, other boards and commissions. The results are below.

Francis Marion University Board of Trustees
The Honorable Mary Finklea

South Carolina State University Board of Trustees
The Honorable Carlotta Redish

Old Exchange Building Commission
The Honorable Connolly Dittrich
The Honorable Laura LeGrand

Education Capital Improvements Sales and Use Tax

S. 940 was approved, as amended, by the Senate Finance Committee this week and amended on the floor before debate was delayed due to a 24-hour point-of-order. The legislation authorizes counties, without regard to the collection requirements for state accommodations taxes, to impose the tax as long as the total tax does not exceed three percent total sales tax.

Electronic Waste Recycling

H. 3847 was amended on the House floor this week and returned to the Senate for concurrence or nonconcurrence. The House amendment was technical in nature and incorporated several date changes and changed the program year from fiscal to calendar.

Clean Energy Market Advisory Council

The House approved H. 3644 this week and the legislation was referred to Senate Finance Committee. The legislation establishes the Clean Energy Industry Market Development Advisory Council, redesignates “renewable energy” tax credits as “clean energy” tax credits, and expands ethanol and biodiesel credits to all liquid fuels derived from renewable resources.

In Committee

Educational Tax Credit for Exceptional Needs Children

S. 867 was given a favorable report as amended by the Senate Finance Special Subcommittee. S. 867 clarifies last year’s appropriations bill regarding income tax credits for contributions to a nonprofit scholarship funding organization for exceptional needs children.

Appropriations Bill

The House Ways and Means Committee’s appropriations subcommittees are finalizing their specific agency budget numbers and the Proviso Subcommittee is scheduled to meet next week.

In addition, the Department of Health and Human Services provided its agency budget for this coming year – to view the presentation, click here. The agency ended FY2013 with a $345 million surplus.

LEED Standard for State Major Facility Projects

The Senate Agriculture and Natural Resources Subcommittee heard testimony this week from opponents and proponents of H. 3592. The subcommittee requested the interested parties to work on a solution to their concerns over the next 30 days. The bill, as introduced, proposed to remove LEED standards from state building projects, but was amended in the House Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee last year to keep LEED standards as of January 1, 2013, and prevents newer versions from being implemented automatically.

In the News

Lukewarm support for increase in gas tax

A growing number of South Carolina Republican lawmakers say the state needs to increase its gas tax to pay for roads. Read more here.

Lee Atwater’s widow to run for South Carolina Education Chief

Sally Atwater, widow of legendary South Carolina GOP political operative Lee Atwater, announced she is running for superintendent of education. Read more here.

Raising the Minimum Wage

Increasing the minimum wage for workers is a hot-button topic this year, with mounting talks of action by policymakers in Columbia and Washington, D.C. Read more here.

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